• CENTRAL BANK GOVERNOR EXPECTS CREDITS PICKUP

Central bank governor Ivan Iskrov expects credits to pick up in line with the anticipated economic recovery this year, according to the latest quarterly bulletin of the association of the commercial banks in the country, ISI reported. The governor expects the number of the companies, which share optimistic views about the future and have prepared good projects to increase. At the same time, households are to take loans when feel confident in the future. Iskrov advices local banks to look for more active management of their current portfolios and opportunities to service their existing clients.

However, he recommends adequate and complex assessment of the risks in every-day work. We remind that the aggregate net profit of banks declined by 21% y/y to BGN 616.7mn (EUR 315.3mn) last year and capital adequacy ratio was reported at 17.48% at end-2010, up from 17.04% a year earlier. Banks credits and advances (gross) went up by 2.8% y/y as of end-December decelerating from 5.1% y/y at the end of 2009.